Florida's best teachers, according to FCAT scores

Nine Tampa Bay area teachers are among the best in Florida, according to a new analysis of FCAT scores conducted for one of Jeb Bush’s education foundations.

Last year, Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education put out lists of top teachers based on a single year’s worth of data – and was criticized by education researchers who said the student results were too “volatile” (meaning too likely to yo-yo from year to year) to draw such strong conclusions.

So this year, the foundation partnered with the American Institutes of Research to look at three years worth of math and reading scores and determine which teachers consistently squeezed out the biggest gains.

All in all, 81 Florida teachers made 14 lists this year. The students were grouped into seven categories: below grade level, high achieving, disabled, English language learners, in low income families, in charter schools and overall. Here are the local teachers who made the lists:

Like last year, a lot of teachers were left out of the calculation. The analysis did not include teachers in grades K, 1, 2, 11 or 12, because the FCAT is not given in those grades. It did not include teachers in third grade, because fourth grade is the first year in which growth can be measured. And it did not include the FCATs in writing and science, because those tests are not given to consecutive grades.

The teachers will be honored in Orlando Saturday, and rewarded with cash and a cruise.

About the blog

Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.